Celtics owners willing to pay luxury tax and go for big deals

I’ve been known to sing the Celtics’ ownership group’s praises in the past and I think that I’m justified in doing so. They care enough to be involved but are smart enough to let everyone do the jobs that they were hired to do. A lot of other teams would be better off if their owners could find that balance.

There has been some hand wringing recently over the “dreaded” repeater tax and the potential implications for the Celtics payroll in the coming years. In a recent interview, Wyc was asked about paying the tax and here’s what he said (via the Boston Globe).

“We have a 16-year record of spending and putting the best possible team out on the court and I’ll just leave it at that. Everybody can see what we’ve done, knows what we’ve done and knows that we’ve put the Celtics first in every aspect.”

Over the years Wyc has made similar statements and followed up with writing checks. It is, however, worth noting that in the past he’s also indicated that they are willing to spend for Championship contending teams. That’s an important distinction to keep in mind as Al Horford ages and guys like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown become extension eligible.

Then again, they may have other near future plans on the trade market. Without naming names, let’s just say that they are always keeping an EYE open and keep BROWSing the trade market for a superstar that may become available. According to Wyc, they are not going to hesitate to push their chips in to cash in big.

“Well, this team is stacked with a lot of talented players on reasonable contracts, and a ton of draft picks. So that’s why our phone is already ringing. Our history is that we try to make the big deal and have gone for it. We try to put banners in the rafters. There’s only one so far [from our ownership group]. We’d like to have another one up there, and that may require another move, or just continued growth with these guys. We’ll have to see.”

Stay tuned this offseason folks.